I tend to agree with the fire chiefs who are waiting for actual data on whether the strategy would *save lives*. In evaluating whether to stay and fight your own fire, you are dealing with so many uncertainties, chief among them variability in fires (the last fire experience may not indicate the strength of the current fire experience), self-assessment variability (are you essentially now making all evacuations non-mandatory, for those who choose to self-assess the fire and their capability to fight it), and also capacity - for a movement to have a meaningful impact, alot of folks have to stay behind to fight the fires, not just pockets of folks: success should be measured not in keeping your own property from burning, but from keeping properties in general from burning, and not dying in the process. There's alot of ifs to consider there, and as I'm not a fire fighter, have zero experience with wild fires, I'm sure I'm missing alot of them, and probably talking out of an alternate orifice...

Without additional data evaluated by fire professionals, and not by a party interested in one strategy or another, I would opt for the best fire prevention I could handle, and not try to fight fires myself. I have in mind an image on the TV screen a couple years ago of a couple putting a bit of water on their root, and while the camera showed the flow from the hose dwindling to a trickle, the fire was racing up a hillside beneath their home, and consumed it in no time. I'll be glib, but anyone planning an extensive stay and fight the fire program should also plan for a good supply of body bags to go along with it.

I heard the other day of an interesting service used around the hills outside Spokane, WA, which tend to flame up every fire season: there's a company that can go around spraying a protective foam on the side of your cabin or dwelling in the event of a fire season, to mitigate the effects of fire coming through your particular arroyo. I have no idea of the properties of this foam, or how long an application would last, but I gather it can provide heat protection to siding such that it won't easily ignite, and still clean off after the fire threat has moved on. Does anyone know about this, is it fire fighting snake oil?